Veiled Muslim Women: Misconceptions and Oppression in the West

Now more than ever the Muslim faith is being put into the spotlight. America continues attempts at banning 7 Muslim majority countries from entering the country. With all this negative publicity, there has been an increase in hate crimes towards Muslim people. It is often hard to tell a person’s faith just by their appearance. However, women who practice Islam are required to wear veils which cover their hair. By wearing the veil these women are susceptible to hate crimes since they can be identified as practicing Muslims. Additionally, in the Western society the women who wear the veil are often seen as oppressed. Homa Hoodfara, a professor at Concordia University, discusses the Western Societies’ views on veiled Muslim women in her article The Veil in their Minds and On Our Heads: The Persistence of Colonial Images of Muslim Women. In this article Homa discusses the negative interpretation that the Western society has on the veil. She also explains how these negative views contribute to prejudice views and the discrimination of veiled women. Lastly, Homa tries to explain how veiled Muslim women and women in general living in the Western society both suffer from female oppression.

Homa explains how in Muslim marriages the women inherit the wealth.

Due to this fact, multiple restrictions were placed on the wife’s actions and behaviors, also these restrictions were stricter with wealthy families (Hoodfar, n.d.). However, poorer families did not exhibit these same strict restrictions since all women were required to work. Homa also explains how the veiling of Muslim women initially began as an indication of a woman’s social status. Due to this then veil becames a cultural, or social practice, that was adopted by Muslims and was perpetuated for the most part for financial purposes” (Haniffa, p.65). The veil also allowed families to delegate the distribution of their wealth via marriage and

inheritance.
Additionally, Homa explains how the veil is not mentioned in the Quran. Instead the Muslim people adopted this practice from the people that they conquered during battle - which in no way relates back to religion. This point is also brought up in Fatima Mernissi’s argument in The Muslim concept of Active Female Sexuality. Additionally, Fatima and Homa also argue that the issue with the veil isn’t the veil itself. Rather, the issue regarding the veil is all the negative discussion regarding it. With that being said, Homa argues that prejudices that surround the veil arose from the practices of seclusion that are associated veil. To be critical of this point, Homa ignores the misogynist and patriarchal purposes that the veil served by not explaining the reason for veil and seclusion by conquerors. (Bodham and Tohidi 1998, p 9-10). The veil used to be as described by Homa a ‘threat’, since it would lower a man’s masculinity if they were to gaze at a woman who is not a relative who is unveiled. The points brought up indicate an appropriation of the veil by Muslim women to leverage their social position. Also, some claims suggest that the seclusion of women is what encouraged patriarchal purposes surrounding veiling.
Another topic that was touched on in the article was that of the dress codes and the impact of fashion in the Western society. Homa attempts to compare the veil and the corset, suggesting that both are repressive beauty devices for women. On the other hand, Homa could have created a much better comparison if she discussed reactions to tank tops, mini skirts, and crop tops. The reason why those would have made much better comparisons is because when these pieces of clothing were invented they were heavily judges by society. People were disgusted and outraged during the initial beginning phases of creation. However, these “items of clothing were greeted with shock and disgust immediately following their invention, and though they were ultimately absorbed into society, the initial reaction still reflect a level of modest and conservatism in Western thinking” (Brown 2012). Additionally, some schools and work places enforce a dress code that must be followed to be a member, so “it could be argued that these dress codes are equally patriarchal and oppressive to women, as the sexual argument is very commonly used to justify the existence of these rules” (Eberle, p.47). However, the examples given are just one of the few “instances where garments and clothing have been used to make a cultural or pollical point in the west, just as the veil makes today” (Vrencoska, p. 868). These arguments help explain the significance of clothing and the patriarchal paradigms that prescribe their use.
Homa indirectly suggests that the media and government heavily contributed to the idea that Western women are superior to veiled women. She mentions that these views begun during the conquering of the Ottoman Empire in World War 1. These people viewed the veil as uncivilized and demanded from the leaders of these Muslim countries to de-veil their women in order to imitate Western’s society view of modernity. These views led to a de-veiling movement in Egypt run by educated feminists. Being portrayed as superior gave these feminists the false impression that they were superior. Furthermore, as the veil continued to be viewed as a negative piece of clothing, many other countries begun to contribute to this hate. In order to modernize Iran, the Iranian Shah banned the veil and ignored changes to the social and economic factors of the country. By banning the veil, it made it easier for the Colonial and Imperial nations to exploit nations in their control. These examples show how the veil was portrayed as a symbol of repression, however these points also show the connection between repression and the veil itself. Two situations began to unfold where Muslim women voluntarily veiled de-veiled themselves to show that they were no longer repressed. The other half of women who de-veiled themselves however, saw that these increased repression and state regulations. So all in all while many might see the veil as a repressive tool, it is actually the negative stigma and talk around it that causes it to be viewed as such. To further drive the point across, in the 1950’s Algerians had banned the veil, however Franz Fanon described “women as national and cultural identity of a nation, and how this makes them an easy target for identity appropriation” (Introduction, 2010).
With the promotion of the veil being a sign symbol of repression in the Western society, it taints an image that the foreign societies are allowing and promotion this repression. Homa argues that all societies, not only Muslim countries, are susceptible to Patriarchal values. However, she explains that because of cultural dominance and lack of self-reflection of the Western culture creates this fake sense of freedom and superiority. This statement strengthens Homa’s argument about negative stigma of the veil being destructive to the progress of gender equality and feminism. Homa states in her article “negative images of Muslim women are continuously presented as a reminder to women of their good fortune … to curb their demands for equality” (Hoodfar)
Homa continuously discussed that only White/European people discriminate against Muslim women. She fails to mention that all other people/ethnicities also hold a prejudice against veiled women. Also, she fails to mention all other Caucasian people who do not feel prejudice against veiled women. Not to mention, several Caucasian females have converted to Islam and have a deep understanding of the religion. By making general accusations of all these people being discriminatory, she is falling victim to the biases that she argues in her article. Also by being so heavily focused on the Western/European world, Homa fails to address the problems that are being faced by veiled Muslim women across the world in Asian and South American countries. These two countries are facing the highest number of Muslim coverts, so addressing the issues that are being faced by them is crucial in order to make general assumptions.
Homa explains that Victorian morality and the ideology of feminism were still developing in the Western society whereas, these ideals were already well known in Islamic nations. Additionally, Homa fails to address the development of laws in each of these societies. Both societies created laws that they felt were important to prosper. The difference in these laws are brought up in Homa’s explanation of controversy between monogamous and polygamous marriages. She mentioned in her article that there were laws in place that limit a women’s rights in terms of marriage and these laws were due to cultural inferiority. Touching upon this topic with a lot more detail could have benefited her greatly. There could have been more detail regarding these issues that could have shown clearer similarities between the Western and Muslim society.

The significance of the veil cannot be summarized in simple terms or classified as another piece of clothing. Many people often get critiqued for expressing their own opinions, which causes discrimination or hate towards one another. In Homa Hoodfar’s article she discusses the trouble of being a veiled woman in the Western world. With her strong points, she challenges feminists and other people in the Western society who shun the veil, to self-reflect first and to ensure they are well informed before making accusations. However, Homa’s article could have been better if she had provided more answers towards counter arguments that are brought up and expanded to a broader audience. Nonetheless, Homa does a good job in writing about her personal experiences about being a Muslim in Canada, as well as the historical background to why the veil is so important and why it is worn. She outlines the prejudices that the Western Society holds towards the veil. If progress is to be made, one must look past these stereotypes or pieces of clothing in order to truly understand